Invite?

Invite?

Why do you invite people to church? Is it for the right reasons?

Chris Swain suggests the following and bout why we should NOT invite people;

• ·        If we are slaves to the numbers and we want those numbers to be really big, or at least bigger than last time.
• ·         If we see our services and events as the highest level of discipleship.
• ·         If we see inviting people to church the same as leading people to Jesus.

He goes on to share why we SHOULD invite people to church;

• ·         Because we want them to connect with biblical community, to worship together, study together, sing, give, serve, and other various connecting-type things.
• ·         Because we understand that people will probably get an invitation to follow Jesus through the sermon, study, or general community environment.
• ·         Because we truly believe that what we have in store will impact their life for the sake of the gospel to help them grow, rest, learn, gain passion, and strengthen their walk with Jesus.

If you stop and think about Genesee County, we are in a sense a community of immigrants. Strangers not from a foreign land, but from a different location. For the most part our ancestors came here from Missouri, or Arkansas, or Kentucky or some other location south of the Michigan Ohio State lines. When they arrived they desired to worship God in the same style and under the same beliefs that they did back home and so they started churches, churches and more churches.

I am of a mind that most churches in Genesee County could be considered ‘Family’ churches, places of worship that were founded and then populated by the same core families for generations. This often meant we didn’t have to actively become involved in sharing the gospel and inviting people to church because we were first of all comfortable with who we worshiped with and had no desire to bring in new or different ideas. Secondly we found ourselves in positions where we didn’t need more attendees. Our ‘families’ provided enough members to cover the active missions and ministries of the church.

So today we find our houses of worship in decline, with many hanging on by a thread ready to close their doors. We could spend countless hours trying to come up with a cause as to why this happened and many denominations have spent large amounts of money determining the reasons. But I challenge you today to leave the past where it is and move forward, spending that time growing the body of Christ rather than mourning the past.

Jesus ministered to the poor, sick, rejected and dejected and while ministering to them shared the love of God. He didn’t do this so that all the seats in heaven would be full; He did it because our God does not want to see one soul lost to hell. He did it because He loved and cared about the hurt that those around Him felt.

Go out into your community, let the world see Christ by your actions and love and then invite them to church because you care about their souls. And I pray that because they have seen the light in you that they will desire to find out more about Christ and accept your invitation.

http://www.lifeway.com/studentministry/2015/03/23/stop-inviting-people-to-church/